Ecuador

Ecuador is a land full of contrast and colour. It is divided in four regions: the Galapagos Islands, the Pacific Coast which features beautiful beaches, the Sierra with the majestic Andes and the Amazon Jungle with its tribes and history.

Although Ecuador is a predominantly Catholic country, the number of evangelicals has grown considerably over the last five years to around twenty per cent of the population.

What we do:

Missions & Cross-Cultural School (ECTM): OM Andean Region has developed a successful twelve weeks intensive missions and cross-cultural training school in Ecuador, called ECTM. We are passionate about seeing Christians trained and equipped for the mission field.

“ConexiónVIDA” (LIFE Connection): Offering relief & visitation to AIDS-affected families, this ministry is focused on children with HIV/AIDS in a local children's hospital, and their families. This ministry also offers educational programs for churches, schools, and communities about HIV/AIDS.

How you can get involved:

PRAY — Pray that God would provide continued wisdom for OM Ecuador Leadership and our short-term & long-term missionaries bring light, love and hope to the communities where we are already serving. Also, pray for increased impact in the numbers of new missionaries we invite to join our movement, both locally and cross-culturally.

State of Economy: Ecuador has a developing economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. The country is classified as a medium-income country. Ecuador's economy is the eighth largest in Latin America and experienced an average growth of 4.6% between 2000 and 2006. From 2007 to 2012 Ecuador was able to maintain relatively superior growth during the crisis. The extreme poverty rate has declined significantly between 1999 and 2010. In 2001 it was estimated at 40% of the population, while by 2011 the figure dropped to 17.4% of the total population. This is explained to an extent by emigration and the economic stability achieved after adopting the U.S. dollar as official means of transaction. However, starting in 2008 with the bad economic performance of the nations where most Ecuadorian emigrants work, the reduction of poverty has been realized through social spending mainly in education and health.

Religious make-up:(%) 94.45% Christian; 11.3% Evangelical

State of the church: Approximately 16’377,650 million people (2015) live in Ecuador, a region deeply marked by the privileged position of the Roman Catholic Church. 80.4% of the population is Catholic, 11.3% evangelical Christians, 1.29% Jehovah Witnesses, and 9.96% other. Evangelistic efforts historically, have targeted the indigenous and tribal groups in the Amazon jungle. The response to the Gospel is dependent on the region; the church is experiencing rapid growth in several urbanized regions while more traditional people groups have small or nonexistent Christian communities. For example 20% of the population of Guayaquil is evangelical Christian; the local church is strong, dynamic, growing and sending missionaries. However, in rural southern Ecuador, Christian populations have an average of 2% of the population.

OMer Katanga discusses how learning that he has contracted asthma relates to his ministry life and how God is sufficient in all circumstances - and glorifying Him is the most important part of any Christian ministry.